Ninety-one percent of the class accepted job offers within three months of graduation. “2011 was a good year for MBA hiring,” says Lisa Feldman, executive director of Career Management Services. “We know there is suffering on the overall employment landscape, but our MBA graduates are finding success in their job searches.”

The class went to work for an average annual salary of $114,232, compared to $107,451 in 2010. The median salary was $111,000 and students collected an average signing bonus of $22,344.

Fifty-five students, 27 percent of the class, went to work in consulting, up from 24 percent last year. Sixteen of those students are at McKinsey & Company, which doubled the number of Berkeley MBA students hired above the previous year and made McKinsey the top hiring firm of Berkeley MBA 11 graduates. Deloitte Consulting was the second top hirer.

Large numbers of students also went to work in the technology industry, with 32 percent heading off to such top hiring firms as Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. The 16 percent of students who went to work in financial services joined such top hiring firms as Cambridge Associates and Citibank.

Berkeley MBA students continued to show strong interest in energy, health care, and biotechnology, with 7 percent of the 2011 class joining each sector. Top hiring firms in these industries included Pacific Gas & Electric, Bloom Energy, Genentech, and McKesson.

In other industries, consumer products companies attracted 4 percent of the class, while 3 percent went to work in real estate and 1 percent in the nonprofit sector. In addition, 10 members of the 2011 class starting their own companies including an energy trading firm, a company developing new battery technology, and app development firm.

The majority of the class of 2011 stayed in the Western United States. Those who ventured farther afield headed for Asia (7 percent), the Northeastern U.S. (6 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (5 percent), and Europe (4 percent). “The number of global companies that have approached us for recruiting has increased," Feldman notes. Chile’s LAN Airlines, Spain’s Itau Unibanco, and Chinese medical device firm Mindray are among the new global visitors to the recruiting center.

Meanwhile, the class of 2012 spent 10 weeks this summer working at internships in such organizations as Visa, Facebook, and the San Francisco Unified School District. On average, they earned a monthly salary of $6,682. Firms that hired the most Berkeley MBA interns included Google, Apple, McKinsey & Company, Microsoft, and The Boston Consulting Group.

2Mean Total Other Guaranteed Compensation includes annual bonus, performance bonus, and other guaranteed bonuses. 34.9% of those reporting salaries reported receiving some form of Other Guaranteed Compensation.

2Mean Total Other Guaranteed Compensation includes annual bonus, performance bonus, and other guaranteed bonuses. 34.9% of those reporting salaries reported receiving some form of Other Guaranteed Compensation.